Ranchera

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT RANCHERA - PAGE 3

Tito Guizar, one of the first Mexican actors to star in Hollywood, working alongside Bob Hope and Roy Rogers, has died at age 91. Mr. Guizar died on Friday in San Antonio, where he was visiting relatives for the Christmas holidays. Mr. Guizar had a seven-decade entertainment career in Mexico and starred in 40 films. He continued to appear on TV soap operas in his native land. Born Federico Guizar Tolentino in Guadalajara, Mr. Guizar became Mexico's first singing cowboy on the big screen.

The much-used and seldom successful storefront on the southern swing of Young Circle has yet another new occupant. Raul Gonzalez, fresh from the Big Apple`s fiesta of Mexican eats, has taken a big bite closer to the border and moved into that chunk of circular real estate. Upon entry, it appears that Gonzalez is operating some kind of shoestring operation, lining up tables in a one-time corridor, now enlivened with a fine mural, three-dimensional cactus drawings and a rocky little waterfall.

BOYNTON BEACH: The Park Ave. BBQ & Grille's logo shows a pig, sporting sunglasses, a bib and a big smile. (Maybe he doesn't realize that, despite his disguise, he's on the menu at this eatery.) All barbecue dishes here are hickory-smoked on the premises and the results are delicious. The deluxe BBQ sampler ($12.99) serves up a moist, meaty half-rack of babyback ribs, a quarter tender chicken (a breast with wing), chopped beef and chopped pork. These last two items were as succulent as the others.

In one of the latest songs by the El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, that island's most venerable salsa orchestra, the band asks fans not to wait until a musician dies to give him his due. "Give it to me in life," they sing. Perhaps it's in reference to their 72-year-old bandleader, Rafael Ithier. When it comes to honoring creative genius, too often the world waits until it is too late. But every once in a while, the reward arrives near the end of the artist's journey. That's what the arranger, composer and conductor Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill, who stepped back into the limelight a few years ago, is discovering in his 78th year.

Launching into margarita mode is easy at this warehouse-huge spot that once housed a deli but now sports a room-length bar, dark woods, neon blue painted walls and an odds-and-ends cantina ambiance. Knocking back a sassy one means taking your pick from a modern margarita roster, starting with the house blend all the way up to ones made with a favorite of tequila connoisseurs -- Casa Noble Reposado. Like good wine, its smooth agave notes are influenced by a yearlong aging in French white oak barrels.

The Friday afternoon disc jockey has been known to miss his show because he's at his other job, pounding nails at a construction site. The newscaster spends most of her day selling jewelry. And the guy running the station is simply glad to be there: It beats his last job, working behind the counter at an auto parts store. So it goes at KYUU, the little "ranchera" station on the prairie, 1,000 watts of Spanish-language music and talk beamed 24/7 to the beef workers, housewives and young homies of southwest Kansas.

ROCK VAN HALEN: 3 (Warner Bros.) Guitar wizard Eddie Van Halen claims to have found a musical "soul mate" in Gary Cherone, the singer who replaced both Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth during one wacky month last fall. But 3 proves that to be a generous description. For one, Cherone doesn't have much soul. The former lead singer of another guitar band, Extreme, Cherone bays at Eddie's ambidexterous riffage like somebody barred from the door of a favorite club. This may explain the vocal resemblance to the deposed Mr. Hagar.

One of the things that's long bothered me about Latin American rock is that the most popular bands imitate their North American and British counterparts. Not so with CafM-i Tacuba, the Mexican rock band that helped revolutionize rock en espaM-qol with its fusion of Mexican folk and regional music and rock 'n' roll. After years of experimentation, CafM-i Tacuba turns toward classic rock with its new CD, Sino (Universal Music Latino). The band is showcasing the approach on its latest tour, which includes a show Sunday at Miami's Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, 174 E. Flagler St. The group, which built its reputation on an innovative blend of rock with ranchera, norteM-qo, or Mexican son, has shifted gears, relying on long drum solos and rock riffs.

She arrived at the clinic at noon, dark sunglasses covering her eyes and a baseball cap pulled down low. She clutched a small pink book with her picture stapled inside. The dates of her examinations for venereal diseases were stamped in inks of various colors, like a passport. Her name is Olga, and like thousands of other women in this town, she works as a prostitute, recruiting clients at a bar. These days, however, unless she is tested every month at a government clinic and has the right stamps in her booklet, the police will arrest her. "You cannot work without it," she said, running her finger down the list of dates and notations saying HIV NEGATIVO.

If you like sequined sombreros and neon cerveza signs with your tacos, plan on bringing your own to Cantina Laredo - one of a handful of places that rises above the usual south of the border routine. It's not every day you can walk into a Mexican restaurant and have guacamole prepared tableside, shrimp marinated in Cuervo Gold, and feel the heat of flames right under your nose as your flan gets the flambM-i treatment. All of which is part of the culinary drama that turns this into a restaurant deserving bonus points for trying harder, starting with a handsome facility dolled up by a color palette lifted straight off a desert sunset.